20.05.2014 - 12:22
The president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Carme Forcadell, asks that people vote on May 25th for one of the parties that defends the right to decide: CiU, ERC, and ICV-EUiA. “We must vote on the 25th, to demonstrate to them that we will vote on November 9th,” she said in the interview on Twitter with Liz Castro, as part of the #CatalanTalk series. Forcadell emphasized the role that the EU will have in the independence process: “If Spain doesn’t let us vote, we will petition the EU to allow the consultation with support of international law.” “Us” she clarified, would be the Catalan Government and Parliament, together with the support of the Catalan people.
ANC President: “We will vote on November 9, and we won’t ask permission to do so”
She is convinced, however, that the Spanish State will not authorize a legal referendum because “they know we will win”. Nevertheless, she insists that the Catalans will vote no matter what: “[Even if Spain doesn’t authorize referendum], we’ll still vote on 9N – we wouldn’t ask permission to vote, only to recognize the will of the Catalan people.”
The interview is available in English, Catalan, Spanish, French, and German, thanks to Esther Roig, Rodolf Gimeno, Blandine Giraud, and Monika Ferré Jordà, respectively.
Liz Castro will be presenting the #CatalanTalk interview series in book form as part of the Off the Press conference in Rotterdam on Thursday, May 22.
Carme Forcadell was reelected president of the Catalan National Assembly on May 10th, with 6905 votes from among 7296 voters. The new National Board was constituted last Saturday, with Forcadell as president, Jaume Marfany returning as vice-president, Toni Morral as Secretary, and Núria Guillaumes as Treasurer.
The new National Board will be in charge of leading the organization in the coming year, and among its principal challenges will be managing the massive demonstration planned for September 11, Catalonia’s National Day, and making sure that Yes-Yes is the most voted option in the November 9th referendum for independence.
Forcadell joined the Catalan National Assembly when it was in its infancy, and was instrumental in organizing the overwhelmingly successful Catalan National Day demonstration in Barcelona, with more than 1.5 million people, as well as the Catalan Way in 2013, in which more than 1.6 million people held hands from one end of Catalonia to the other, over 250 miles, demanding independence.
